1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arthroscopic surgical method and apparatus for suture fixation and, more specifically, to an arthroscopic method and apparatus for performing anatomic ligament repair using suture anchors installed through a thin, cannulated, open-section drill guide.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Suture anchors are used in arthroscopic surgery to secure suture material to tissue. Various suture anchor assemblies have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,632,100 to Somers et al. and 4,898,156 to Gatturna et al. disclose suture anchors and tools for suture anchor installation. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,743 to Nicholson et al.
Guiding small suture anchor pins while accurately positioning repair tissue and driving the suture anchors into bone can be excessively demanding. For example, in arthroscopic Bankart repair, inserting suture anchors into the glenoid rim is technically formidable, making the procedure very difficult.
Improved methods and apparatus also are needed for performing other surgical procedures, especially arthroscopic procedures, such as labral reconstructions, including superior labral anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion repairs, as well as in knee and other joint surgery, for example, primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repairs.
Repositioning and securing of the tissue to be sutured is provided by the inventions of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,466,243, and 5,683,401 having common assignment with the present application, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Pursuant to the methods noted above, once the ligament has been speared and mobilized into position at the repair site, the suture anchor is driven through the ligament and into bone.
The need exists for arthroscopic instruments and methods that mobilize and spear the ligament and provide a secure platform for inserting the suture anchor into bone. Such a technique would securely place the anchor into bone and the sutures through the ligament as a single step.